Easy sidewalk edger



June 17, 1969 s. LOWERY 3,

EASY S IDEWALK EDGER Filed April 28, 1966 I NVENTOR BY MNE-QQ ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent U.S. Cl. 17218 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A garden tool for providing a neat appearance between a sidewalk and the adjacent sod which comprises a cutter body attached to a handle. The cutter body is flat and shaped to provide a V-shaped terminal portion, a portion from which a group of cutting teeth extend and a portion that connects the terminal portion 'with the toothed portion. The connecting portion is provided with a recess in one of its edges shaped to provide a blade extending outwardly toward the teeth. A bevel is provided on one face of said elongated flat cutter body that extends along .said teeth, the edge of said recess and completely around said terminal portion.

The present invention relates generally to garden tools and particularly to sidewalk edgers. It is particularly adapted to be used to provide a neat appearance between the sod and adjacent sidewalk and in this regard, the invention functions to [facilitate severing of undesired material as well as removal thereof.

'In most instances a plurality of independent successive operations are required to accomplish a complete edging operation. Usually, a difierent tool is employed for each edging operation and short sections of sod are completely edged before starting another section. Moreover, these tools, generally, have short handles, requiring the user thereof to operate them from a kneeling position. Furthermore, it is common for an individual to leave one or more tools at a completed section, and to then rise from a kneeling position to obtain a needed tool.

Additionally, where a single tool with multiple separate operating portions is used, the problems are not alleviated because in this instance each operating portion is only adapted to perform a single function and thus for difiicult removal or edging tasks, it is necessary to rotate or manipulate the tool to different positions for such tasks.

One of the primary objects of the present invention is to provide a single edging tool which is designed to perform the functions normally performed by a plurality of tools without requiring multiple manipulations.

More specifically, an object hereof is to provide a single edging tool capable of performing all of the essential functions now generally provided by a plurality of tools or a plurality of separated tool portions and which permits the user to stand erect and by virtue of the cooperative disposition of an integrated blade arrangement, to both cut and remove undesired sod portions without rotating the tool, or the like.

An additional object hereof is to provide an edger blade structure having cooperating cutter and raking or extracting teeth so disposed in association with one another as (a) to permit edging with short up and down strokes and easy waste removal with a straight line pulling action and (b) to permit both such actions with the blade in generally the same position with respect to the edge being worked.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device, according to the present teachings, which is simple in construction and made of readily available inexpensive materials.

Patented June 17, 1969 Ice The invention will be better understood, and objects other than those set forth above, will become apparent after reading the following detailed description thereof. Such description refers to the annexed drawings presenting preferred and illustrative embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of an embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the device illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view showing the blade of the device at an angle to the sidewalk;

FIGURE 4 is a side view of the blade of the device; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view, taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 4.

Referring now to the drawings, it is to be initially noted that the device shown therein includes a cutter body A attached to a handle B by any conventional construction which may, for example, constitute a llat butt portion I inserted into a co-planar slot 2 located in handle B. The cutter body A is secured to said handle by any conventional means, as for example, bolts 3 passing through said 'handle and aligned openings 4 in the butt end of the cutter body.

The cutter body A can be formed of any well known rigid material which lends itself to being sharpened to a cutting edge and which will retain its sharpness even after repeated use. However, commercial tool steel is preferred.

The cutter body is rflat and shaped into What may be termed a terminal piercing or V-shaped nose portion 5, a cutting tooth portion 6 and a connection portion 7. Due to the thinness of the cutter body opposed side edges are formed thereon and these side edges are joined by end edges 8, 8' which are of equal length and taper to point 9. The cutting tooth portion is provided with a plurality or group of V-shaped teeth 10 that extend from one of the side edges of the cutter body and have a depth approximately one-halt that of the cutter body. These teeth are symmetrical about spaced apart axes extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said cutter body and terminate in points substantially equally spaced from one another. The plurality or group of teeth are spaced from said V-shaped end edge by a distance substantially larger than the space between said points. The side edge of the cutter body which has the teeth formed thereon has also formed therein, contiguous with the portion of said V- shaped end edge, a sod removing or extracting tooth blade portion 11. The sod removing tooth portion 11 is shaped to provide a rear edge contiguous with the V-shaped end edge and to extend in the same general direction as the part of the V-shaped end edge adjacent the side edge having the teeth formed therein. The sod removing tooth portion 11 also extends a distance at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the cutter body greater than the distance bet-ween the points of the teeth and the longitudinal axis of the cutter body. The side edge having the teeth is also recessed between the sod removing tooth portion and the group of teeth. The V-shaped end edge and the side edge having the teeth are continuously bevelled to provide a continuous sharp cutting edge along one face 12 of said V-shaped end edge and along the side edge having the teeth.

In using the above described edging tool, the nose or piercing portion 5 is first inserted into the sod G with the teeth directed toward the user and the unsharpened face of the cutter body in contact with the sidewalk W until the lower end of the handle engages the sod. Then, easy short up and down strokes are applied to the cutter body. Such action, in addition to providing a cut adjacent the sod and the sidewalk will also ellect a gradual movement of the cutter body toward the user. After a desired length of sod, for example, several feet, has been out in this manner, the edger is removed. Thereafter, the user standing on the sidewalk inserts the cutter body in contact with the sidewalk and at an angle of approximately degrees to the sidewalk. Then, upon the application of easy movements to the cutter body toward the use-r all grass on a straight line along the cut will be removed by the blade portion 11 of the cutter body.

Many of the advantages of a sidewalk edger constructed in accordance with the foregoing description will be apparent from the foregoing description. However, in order to emphasize the significance of specific structural features of the sidewalk edger such structure and its functions are now referred to in greater detail.

For example, since the plurality of cutting teeth and the sod removal or extracting tooth extends from the same side edge of the sidewalk edger, both the severing operation of the sod along the sidewalk and its removal can be carried out without the necessity of rotating the tool. Inasmuch as rotation of the tool is not required to perform the severing and removal operations, a considerable saving of time and labor is effected.

Another advantage resides in arranging the cutting teeth symmetrically about equally spaced parallel axes extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the body. With such construction the sidewalk edger can be operated with a force requirement which is uniform and, therefore, less tiring to the user. This enables the user to edge greater distances without any apparent increase in effort.

Yet another advantage of the disclosed edger resides in the provision of the flat face on the blade opposite the face provided with the bevelled edge and the arrangement wherein the teeth have a depth only one-half the width of the blade. With such construction, there is a sufiiciently large surface area adjacent the group of teeth that enables such surface to function as a guide for the side walk edger when it is inserted in the sod adjacent the sidewalk. This guiding function is desirable as an aid in effecting the neat severance of the sod along the sidewalk.

After reading the foregoing detailed description, it will be apparent that the obects set forth initially 'have been successfully achieved.

Accordingly, what is claimed is:

1. A sidewalk edger comprising a flat elongated cutter body provided with opposed faces and a peripheral edge on each side of its longitudinal axis, said cutter body including a butt portion, a cutting toothed portion adjacent said butt portion having teeth extending from only one of said edges, its other edge opposite said one edge being blunt, a terminal piercing portion having sides each of which tapers with respect to said longitudinal axis to a point and a connecting portion joining said terminal piercing portion to said cutting toothed portion, a recess provided in said one edge in said connecting portion, said recess being so shaped as to provide a blade extending outwardly and toward said teeth, and a bevel provided on one face of said elongated flat cutter body extending along said teeth, the edge of said recess and completely around said terminal piercing portion.

2. A sidewalk edger as in claim 1 wherein the width of the blade is at least twice the depth of the teeth.

3. A sidewalk edger as in claim 1 wherein the face of the edger opposite the beveled face is flat throughout.

4. A sidewalk edger as in claim 1 wherein the axes of the teeth are at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the cutter body.

5. A sidewalk edger as in claim 1 wherein said terminal piercing portion extends laterally beyond the teeth.

6. A sidewalk edger as in claim 1 wherein said cutting body is provided with an elongated handle.

7. A sidewalk edger as in claim 1 wherein said cutter body is made of rigid material.

8. A sidewalk edger as in claim 1 wherein each of the tapering sides are of equal length.

9. A sidewalk edger as in claim 1 wherein said blade is formed of rigid metal, the teeth 'have a width one-half the width of the blade, the axes of the teeth are at right angles to the longitudinal axis of said cutting body, the tapering side edges of the terminal piercing portion are of equal length and an elongated handle is arranged to extend from said butt portion.

10. An elongated flat cutter body having first and second opposed side edges and a V-shaped end edge joining said side edges at one end of said body, one side edge of said body having a plurality of generally V-shaped teeth formed therein, said teeth being symmetrical about respective parallel spaced apart axes extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said body, said plurality of teeth terminating in points substantially equally spaced from one another, said plurality of teeth being formed as a group of teeth spaced from said V-shaped end edge by a distance substantially larger than the space between said points, said one side edge also having an extraction tooth portion formed therein contiguous with the portion of said V-shaped end edge adjacent one side edge, said extraction tooth portion providing a rear edge contiguous with said V-shaped end edge, said rear edge extending in the same general direction as the part of the V-shaped end edge adjacent said one side edge, said one side edge being recessed between said extraction tooth portion and said group of teeth, said V-shaped end edge and said one side edge being continuously beveled on one side of said body to provide a continuous sharp cutting surface along said V-shaped end edge and said one side edge, said V-shaped end edge and said extraction tooth portion extending laterally of the longitudinal axis of said body by a distance at least as great as the distance each of said plurality of teeth extend therefrom.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,484,755 2/1924 Black 30-355 X 1,710,039 4/1929 Bauer 30-317 X 2,517,840 8/1950 Chatlos 30-314 ABRAHAM G. STONE, Primary Examiner.

WALTER J. CONLON, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 30-315 

